Types of Identity Theft

Contrary to what you might think, identity theft is more than just credit card number theft—far more. In fact, the 5 most common forms of identity theft are:

1. Social Security number (SSN). These are appallingly easy to steal, and once a thief has yours he can open bank accounts in your name, get credit in your name, and access all sorts of records that are listed by SSN such as medical records and credit reports. Using this info, he can steal your identity and get jobs under your name. He might even get arrested using your identity.

2. Driver’s License. It used to be that most drivers license thefts were minors looking for a way just to get into a bar. Now stolen drivers licenses can give a thief a person’s entire life! Even just the drivers license number is enough and many make it easy by printing it on their checks for “convenience”. Don’t do it. No law requires you to have this number on your checks, and if a thief happens to work at a store that gets checks with driver’s license numbers on them, he can steal them and use them to open bank accounts, get credit cards, and steal your identity.

3. Employment. When a thief gets your work history (which he can do easily if you post your resume online), he can steal your identity by using it as his own to get a job under your name. This in conjunction with your Social Security number and all of a sudden he takes a job, doesn’t pay taxes on the income and you get stuck with the tax bill and IRS audit. You don’t even know this is going on!

4. Finance. If the account number to your checking, savings, and online brokerage accounts are stolen, a thief can clean those accounts out before you even know they’re being drained. This area also includes the well known credit card fraud, discussed more later.

5. Health records/insurance. Thieves buy and sell health and insurance records, primarily because those records are often a goldmine of personal information such as name, address, SSN, place of employment, and even driver’s license numbers. Your insurance information can be sold to someone with serious issues like heart disease, AIDS, or Cancer. Then when you go to have something checked out you find that your insurance has been canceled or they won’t cover you because you have a ‘pre-existing condition’. Think of the stress involved when you have a medical issue and you have to try to sort out your identity to get treated! Anyone who works in any doctor’s office you visit can get your information – nurse, janitor, even the person that just waters the plants!

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